Man arrested for allegedly blowing up dog

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STEVENSON, Wash. -- Here's a sentence that will ruin your Monday: A 45-year-old Stevenson resident was arrested Sunday for reportedly strapping an explosive device to his dog and blowing it up.

According to the Skamania County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to the property of Christopher Dillingham in the small town on the Washington/Oregon border when an explosion was heard around 3:45 a.m.

Deputies found the remains of Dillingham's dog on his property, as well as other evidence of an explosive, and arrested Dillingham.

He was booked into Skamania County Jail and charged with two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and possession of explosive devices, which is a class A felony, according to Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox

Cox said prosecutors chose not to file animal cruelty charges against Dillingham because the dog's death was instantaneous and it therefore did not suffer.

He did say it's possible that more charges could come.

"I firmly believe that if the prosecution finds an expert that can verify the suffering portion of the statute, they would file on that as well," Cox said in a Monday afternoon email.

The Sheriff's Office would not comment on Dillingham's motive for blowing up his dog because it is part of the active investigation.

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